Top stories on 12th July in a capsule

Ravi Shastri appointed as head coach; Zaheer, Dravid part of staff 

After much flip flop, the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) on Tuesday announced the appointment of former cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri as head coach of the Indian cricket team. the Board also named Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach and Rahul Dravid as the batting consultant for overseas events. Hours before the actual announcement the board denied media reports that claimed that Shastri has finally been given the nod to coach the team. On Monday, the selectors had said that the final decision regarding the coach will be taken only after consulting Captain Virat Kohli.
Five candidates - namely Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput were interviewed in the end for the post.

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LeT carried out attack on Amarnath Yatra 

The J&K police on Tuesday blamed militant organization Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for Monday's attack on Amarnath Yatris in Anantnag which killed seven pilgrims and injured close to 32 others, including policemen. Muneer Khan, Inspector General (IG) of Kashmir, told the media that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was involved in the attacks and that it was masterminded by Pakistani militant, Ismail. Though the attack is being seen as the worst on the annual pilgrimage since 2000, the yatris resumed their journey on Tuesday noon hours after the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Mehbooba Mufti and several other leaders, condemned the attack and expressed their condolences. The dead bodies of the victims were airlifted to Delhi, on Tuesday morning.
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Supreme Court rules out cattle slaughter ban

Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a stay on the proposed law banning the trade of cattle for slaughter saying the law are meant to "prevent uncontrolled and unregulated animal trade". The decision was taken after concerns were raised regarding the loss to meat and leather industries and it would affect mass livelihood of many as India is the largest exporter of beef in the world. The law was already adopted by the Madras High Court on 30 May, days after its first announcement. The government is now supposed to make the required amendments to the law and renotify its decision by the end of August.

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Yogi govt presents 1st budget; dedicates it to farmers, poor, women  

The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday presented its first budget since taking over the state of UP with Rs 36,000 crore offered as farm loan waiver and another 55,000 crore allocated for new schemes announced by the government, media reports quoting officials said. The total worth of the budget is Rs 3,84,659 crore which roughly constitues 11% more than the budget presented by the previous Akhilesh Yadav government. State finance minister Rajesh Agarwal indicated a deficit of Rs 7,468 after deduction of total expenditure even as Yogi Adityanath himself termed the budget solely for the "village, poor, farmer and women."